Spindle release holder for roll products

ABSTRACT

A holder for roll products such as toilet tissue and the like. Such roll products comprise a relatively stiff paper core having a continuous paper web wound thereupon, and the entire roll is rotatably supported by the spindle of a holder so that desired lengths of the web can be withdrawn and separated from the roll. The holder includes a pair of supports provided with axially spaced journal recesses that rotatably support an elongated spindle having bearing journals at the ends thereof which seat within such recesses. The spindle is equipped with spring means biasing the bearing journals away from each other so that they seat firmly within the bearing recesses, and means are provided for releasing the spindle from the supports therefor while the depleted core of such roll remains upon the spindle. The spindle release mechanism includes a reciprocable plunger movable into engagement with one of the bearing journals so as to displace the same from the bearing recess therefor, thereby enabling the coreequipped spindle to be removed from the supports.

United States Patent Curtin 1 Feb. 22, 1972 54] SPINDLE RELEASE HOLDER FOR ROLL PRODUCTS Frank M. Curtin, 3747-9 Vista Compana, Oceanside, Calif. 92054 [22] Filed: June 8,1970

[21] App1.No.: 44,100

[72] Inventor:

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,492,728 12/1949 Balz ..242/55.2 3,392,928 7/1968 Peterson ...242/55.53 2,566,883 9/1941 Gove ..242/55.2

Primary Examiner-George F. Mautz Att0meyJoseph B. Gardner [57] ABSTRACT A holder for roll products such as toilet tissue and the like. Such roll products comprise a relatively stiff paper core having a continuous paper web wound thereupon, and the entire roll is rotatably supported by the spindle of a holder so that desired lengths of the web can be withdrawn and separated from the roll. The holder includes a pair of supports provided with axially spaced journal recesses that rotatably support an elongated spindle having bearing journals at the ends thereof which seat within such recesses. The spindle is equipped with spring means biasing the bearing journals away from each other so that they seat firmly within the bearing recesses, and means are provided for releasing the spindle from the supports therefor while the depleted core of such roll remains upon the spindle. The spindle release mechanism includes a reciprocable plunger movable into engagement with one of the bearing journals so as to displace the same from the bearing recess therefor, thereby enabling the core-equipped spindle to be removed from the supports.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBZZ I972 3,5 3,

FIG. I

M/VE/VTOR:

FRANK M (URT/A/ SPINDLE RELEASE HOLDER FOR ROLL PRODUCTS This invention relates to a-holder for roll products such as toilet tissue and the like and, more particularly, to a holder equipped with a spindle release mechanism so that the spindle of such holder, while having a core from a roll product mounted thereon, can be readily released and removed from the holder.

Quite commonly, roll productssuchas toilet tissue, paper toweling, and the like constitutes an elongated core formed of relatively stiff materials such as paper laminations spirally wound one upon another and adhesively secured to each other; and they further constitute a continuous web-of paper or other material wound upon thecore. The core serves to support the roll and provide a means for holding the leading end of the web to initiate winding thereof into roll form and it also provides the means by which such roll product is rotatably supported in a holder sov that lengths of webbing can be repetitively withdrawn from the roll andtom therefrom.

It is a common experience, especially with a roll of toilet tissue, that when the web'has been depleted and the exhausted roll product must be replaced in a full roll it is somewhat difficult to remove the spring-urged spindle of a holder from the supports therefor because the depleted core, being relatively stiff and substantially covering the spindle from end to end thereof, prevents the spindle from being easily grippedto displace it from its supports. As aconsequence, the common technique is to try to deform the stiff core adjacent anv end thereof so that the fingers of ones hand can be inserted between such deformed end of the core and adjacent spindle holder to engage the spindle and release'it from the support. This procedure is unusually irritating-because it.cannot be accomplished with facility and often leads to broken'fingernails.

In view thereof, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for removing the spindle from -a holder for a roll of toilet tissue or the like while the core of the roll product is supported upon the-spindle.

Another object of the invention is that of providing an improved spindle release holder for roll products such as toilet tissue and the like, and which holder includes spindle release mechanism selectively operable conveniently and easily to release at least one end of the spindle from the support therefor so that a slight lateral force then applied to the coreequipped spindle will effect removal thereoffrom the holder.

- Still another object is in the provision of an improved holder of the type described which has spaced-apart supports equipped with journal recesses adapted to receive-therein the bearing journals located at the ends of an elongated spindle and which bearing journals are resiliently biased outwardly into seating engagement with the recesses, and in which the spindle release mechanism includes a reciprocable plunger carried by one of the supports for inward movement from. its normally inactive outer or retracted position into an inner active or spindle release position in engagement with one of the bearing journals of the spindle to displace the same outwardly from the bearing recesses therefor.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention, especially as concerns particular features and characteristics thereof, will be apparent as the specification continues.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a holder embodying the invention shown in position along a room wall;

FIG. 2 is a broken top plan view, similar to that of FIG. 1, but showing the spindle of the holder released from the supports therefor;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged axial sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged axial sectional view, similar to that of FIG. 3, but showing a somewhat modified construction; and

FIG. 5 is an axial sectional view, similar to that of FIGS. 3 and 4 but taken along a horizontal plane, illustrating a further modified construction.

For the most part, the holder illustrated may be conventional and takes the form of one of the many holders now commonly used for rolls of toilet tissue and other rollproducts. Such roll products, it will be noted, comprise an elongated hollow core that is relatively stiff and is usually formed by spirally wrapping paper laminations one upon another and securing the same in such configuration by adhesives. The cores are cut. to length, and helically or cylindrically wrapped thereabout are webs of a suitablematerial, most often paper, which is unwound and torn from the roll in the lengths required'for use. Whenever the web has been depleted, the stiff core must be removed from the holder so that it can be replaced with another roll product. As indicated hereinbefore, toilet tissue constitutes the most familiar example of a roll product in which the invention is useful, and the holder illustrated and described herein isintended for use with-rolls of toilet tissue.

The holder shown'in FIG. 1 is denoted in its entirety with the numeral 10, and it includes a pair of supports 11 and 12 that are mounted upon a room wall or other vertical wall 14 by means of wood screws, mounting plates, or other conventional means, none of which are shown since they are conventional and well known and have no relation to the present invention. The supports 11 and 12 are also shown to be individual components separately secured to the-wall 14, but they maybe integrated into a one-piece structure in accordance with the practice in many typical holders. In any case, however, the 7 supports 11 and 12 are respectively provided with journal recesses 15 and 16 which are necessarily spaced apart and are axially aligned so asto rotatably support a spindle 17.

The spindle 17 may take a variety of forms, but in any case is provided with bearing journals l8 and 19 r at the ends thereof. The bearing journals 18 and 19 are respectively insertable into the journal recesses 15 and 16 so as to rotatably mount the spindle 1 7 in the supports 11 and 12, as shown in FIG. 1. The bearings 18 and 19 are resiliently biased outwardly relative to-each other, or in opposite axial directions, so as to firmly seat and maintainthe bearings 18 and 19 in the respective recesses 15 and 16 therefor. In the form shown, the spindle 17 is comprised of, two telescopically related spindle sections 20 and 21 resiliently urged in opposite axial directions'by a helical compression spring 22 mounted within the hollow interiors of the sections 20 and 21 and seated against the closed ends thereof respectively adjacent the bearing journals l8 and 19. For purposes of this invention, such construction of the spindle 17 may be taken to be completely standard, and as is well known the spring 22 tends to bias the bearings 18 and 19 into spaced positions having a distance therebetween greater than the axial distance between the bearing recesses 15 and 16.

For the purpose of facilitating the removal of the spindle 17 when the relatively stiff core of a spent or exhausted roll of tissue remains mounted thereon, spindle release mechanism is included as a part of the holder 10 and is specifically associated with the support 11 thereof. Such mechanism is generally denoted with the numeral 24, and it includes a reciprocable plunger 25 equipped at its outer end with an enlarged head 26 and at its inner end with an enlarged abutment 27. The head 26 and abutment 27 may be secured to the plunger 25 in any convenient and conventional manner and, in this respect, in the particular mechanism being considered the head 26 is fixedly attached to the plunger 25 by welding or a pressed fit, and the abutment 27 is removably secured thereto, as by means of a threaded interconnection 28, so as to facilitate assembly of the mechanism 24 with the support 11.

The support 11 is provided with an axially extending opening 29 aligned with the recesses 15 and communicating therewith. In the particular holder 10 being considered, the support 11 is generally rectangular in cross section and is a hollow component so that the recess 15 is essentially an opening formed in the inner wall of the support, and the opening 29 is a hole or opening formed in the outer wall of the support. The plunger 25 is carried by the support 11 for reciprocable displacements between an inactive retracted or outer position, shown in FIG. 1, in which the bearing journal 18 of the spindle 17 is permitted to seat firmly within the journal recess 15, and an active spindle release position in which the abutment 27 is urged into engagement with the bearing journal 18 to displace the same from the recess and permit the spindle to be removed from the supports 11 and 12, all as shown in FIG. 2. Evidently then, the plunger is mounted within the opening 29 for reciprocable displacements with respect thereto, and it is confined within such opening by the enlarged head 26 and abutment 27 which respectively engage opposite surfaces of the support wall defining the opening 29.

A slightly modified spindle release mechanism is illustrated in FIG. 4, and such modification essentially constitutes inclusion of a helical compression spring in circumjacent relation about the plunger of the mechanism. Since the mechanism is similar in all other respects to the mechanism 24 hereinbefore described, the same numerals are used to identify respectively corresponding components except thatthe suffix a has been added for purposes of differentiation. Thus, the spring 30 is circumjacent the plunger 25a and seats at one end against the inner surface of the enlarged head 24a and at its opposite end against the outer surface of the support 11 about the opening 29 therein. Consequently, the spring 30 normally biases the plunger 25a into the inactive retracted position thereof illustrated in FIG. 4, but the plunger can be displaced inwardly into its active position against the biasing force of the spring to release the spindle 20.

A further modified mechanism is illustrated in FIG. 5, and again because the components of such modified mechanism are similar to those heretofore described in association with the mechanism 24, the same numerals are used where appropriate to designate respectively corresponding components except that the suffix b is added to each numeral. Thus, the mechanism 24b is seen to have a generally cylindrical plunger 25b of substantially uniform diameter from end to end thereof, and it is reciprocable within the opening 29b provided therefor in the support 11b. The spindle 17 has a bearing journal 18 that seats within the bearing recess 29b of the modified support 11b in the manner heretofore explained.

At its outer end, the plunger 29b is fixedly secured to an elongated support arm 31 that extends generally along the support 11b, and at the end remote from the plunger, the support arm is pivotally secured to the support 11b by a pivot pin 32. A leaf spring 34 interposed between the support arm 31 and the facing surface of the support 11b biases the arm 31 and, therefore, the plunger 24b into the outer inactive position thereof. However, the arm 31 can be displaced inwardly against the biasing force of the spring 34 so as to displace the bearing journal 18 of the spindle 17 from the bearing recess 2% of the support 11b, thereby enabling the spindle to be removed from the supports therefor.

In all forms of the invention, the holder is used in a conventional manner to mount a roll of tissue upon the spindle l7 and rotatably support the same in the holder so that segments of the roll web can be unwound and separated as necessary. In this respect, when the spindle I7 is removed from the support 11 and 12, the spindle is inserted through the hollow core of such roll product, and one or the other of the bearing journals 18 or 19 is inserted into the bearing recess 15 or 16 provided therefor. The other bearing journal is then pressed inwardly against the biasing force ofthe spring 22 and the roll-equipped spindle is pivoted inwardly between the supports 11 and 12 to align such other journal bearing (the bearing 18, for example) with the recess 19, whereupon such other bearingjournal 18 is displaced into and seats within the recess 19 because of the biasing force of the spring 22. Thereafter, the spindle 17 and roll product mounted thereon are rotatably supported by the supports 11 and 12 so that the roll product can be used in the conventional manner.

Following depletion of the roll (or any other time) the spindle 17. is easily removed even though it is totally covered by a stiff paper core simply by exertinga manual force via a thumb or finger against the enlarged head 26 of the release mechanism so as to displace the plunger 25 inwardly from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 2. Such inward displacement of the plunger 25 causes the bearing journal 18 and spindle section carrying the same to be displaced inwardly or toward the bearing journal 19 so as to completely release the bearing journal 18 from the bearing recess 15. When this is accomplished, a slight lateral force applied against the spindle 17 causes it to be removed from the supports 11 and 12, as shown in FIG. 2.

In the form of the device shown in FIG. 3,'the plunger 25 may remain in the active spindle release position thereof shown in FIG. 2 until the spindle 17 is replaced in the support 11 and I2, whereupon the biasing force of the spring 22 comprising a part of the spindle will cause the plunger 25 to be returned to its outer inactive position. With either of the mechanisms shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the plungers thereof will be returned automatically to the outer. inactive positions thereof whenever the manual force is released because of the biasing action of the spring 30, in the case of the mechanism 240, and of the spring 34, in the case of the mechanism 24b. Accordingly, with the modified form of mechanism shown in either of FIGS. 4 or 5, no reliance is placed on the spring 22 of the spindle 17 to return the plungers to their inactive positions.

The arcuate surface with which the plunger is equipped (i.e., the arcuate surfaces of the abutments 27 and 27a in the forms of the invention respectively shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 and FIG. 4, and by the plunger 25b itself in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5) facilitates removal of the spindle 17 because it projects slightly beyond the inner surface of the support 11, as shown in FIG. 2, so as to completely release the adjacent bearingjournal of the spindle from the associated recess, and also because it affords a low frictional resistance to movement of the spindle bearing journal 18 relative thereto. If desired, such surface can be equipped with a material having a low coefficient of friction such as Teflon, but there is essentially no necessity therefor. The spindle release mechanism can be formed of any suitable material whether the same or different from that of the supports 11 and 12 and spindle 17. However, esthetic considerations usually make it desirable that the mechanism blend with the supports, in which event at least the head 26, 260 or support arm 31 desirably match the respectively associated supports 11 and 11b; and in a particular example of the holder 10, all of the components thereof are formed of chromium-plated steel. 7

While in the foregoing specification embodiments of the invention have been described in considerable detail for purposes of making a complete disclosure thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes may be made in such details without departing from the spirit and principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A holder for a roll of toilet tissue or like roll product con stituting a web of material wound upon a relatively stiff core, comprising a pair of supports provided with journal recesses and being mountable along a room wall with said recesses oriented in spaced apart alignment, an elongated spindle adapted to extend thru such core to support the roll product thereon and having bearing journals at the ends thereof respectively insertable into said recesses to rotatably mount said spindle and any roll-equipped core thereon, means pro vided by said spindle for resiliently biasing said bearing journals thereof outwardly in directions away from each other to seat the same within said recesses, spindle release mechanism including a reciprocable plunger carried by one of said supports for movement between an active spindle release position in engagement with one of said bearing journals to displace the same from the recess seating the same therein and an inactive retracted position enabling said one bearing journal to seat within the recess therefor, said one support having an axially extending opening communicating with said recess therein, said plunger being reciprocably related to said opening for axial displacements therealong between said active and inactive positions, and an elongated support arm pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof to the aforesaid one supretracted position thereof port and connected at its other end with said plunger so as to Th holder of laim 2 in which said Spring means comb v bl h rewith, prises a leaf spring operative between said support arm and 2. The holder of claim 1 and further comprising spring the aforesaid one pp means resiliently biasing said plunger toward the inactive 5 l l i 

1. A holder for a roll of toilet tissue or like roll product constituting a web of material wound upon a relatively stiff core, comprising a pair of supports provided with journal recesses and being mountable along a room wall with said recesses oriented in spaced apart alignment, an elongated spindle adapted to extend thru such core to support the roll product thereon and having bearing journals at the ends thereof respectively insertable into said recesses to rotatably mount said spindle and any roll-equipped core thereon, means provided by said spindle for resiliently biasing said bearing journals thereof outwardly in directions away from each other to seat the same within said recesses, spindle release mechanism including a reciprocable plunger carried by one of said supports for movement between an active spindle release position in engagement with one of said bearing journals to displace the same from the recess seating the same therein and an inactive retracted position enabling said one bearing journal to seat within the recess therefor, said one support having an axially extending opening communicating with said recess therein, said plunger being reciprocably related to said opening for axial displacements therealong between said active and inactive positions, and an elongated support arm pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof to the aforesaid one support and connected at its other end with said plunger so as to be movable therewith.
 2. The holder of claim 1 and further comprising spring means resiliently biasing said plunger toward the inactive retracted position thereof.
 3. The holder of claim 2 in which said spring means comprises a leaf spring operative between said support arm and the aforesaid one support. 